The Political Economy of State-chartered Banks in Early Twentieth-century Texas
ISBN: 978-1-83909-180-3, eISBN: 978-1-83909-179-7
Publication date: 30 September 2020
Abstract
This chapter explores the political economy of banking in Texas at the turn of the last century. The empirical work sheds light on why Texans voted to allow the chartering of banks by the state government. The evidence shows that county-level voting patterns for state-chartered banks were significantly related to business interests, consumer interests, agricultural activity, and the presence of existing national banks. The work also shows that the first counties to receive the new state banks were associated with higher agricultural activity, larger population size, and the presence of existing national banks. By examining the vote and the location of early entrants in state banking, this chapter contributes to the literature exploring the historical development of state-chartered banking and the dual-banking system in the US.
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Acknowledgements
Acknowledgments
Thank you to Elizabeth Teaff at W&L's Leyburn Library and to the librarians at the Briscoe Center at the University of Texas for research assistance on archival materials. Also thanks to Bob Strong and Katie Shester for helpful comments on the paper, and to Spencer Katterhagen and Rob Lahourcade for conversations about Texas history. I am grateful to the American Association of University Women (AAUW) for a previous American Fellowship for sabbatical which sparked this idea.
Citation
Hooks, L.M. (2020), "The Political Economy of State-chartered Banks in Early Twentieth-century Texas", Hanes, C. and Wolcott, S. (Ed.) Research in Economic History (Research in Economic History, Vol. 36), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 151-180. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0363-326820200000036005
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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